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Talk:AIF/@comment-10905876-20160916034614/@comment-10905876-20160923041335
OOC: Thanks, Bouexic! IC: -Bridge, AIF Andromeda- I strode in to the bridge from my ready room, taking my place at the command bridge. The main monitor was split between several smaller readouts, a corner showed stars advancing past as seen by an external camera, another showed a map with our progress, while most of the rest was dominated by system status reports. A countdown was nearing zero, a countdown the crew and I have been watching since we set out. "Approaching Sol system. Warp engines throttle back to half power on my mark. Three, two, one, mark." "Half power aye." The ambient pitch of the ship's engines lowers, the vibrations in the deck slowing down. A reduction in speed upon approach to a star system was the AIF's reaction the the damages to space-time. Lower warp speed should, in theory, allow more precise arrivals at a destination. The sound and feel of the ship again changed as the navigator and helmsman further reduce our speed. "Reduce speed to twenty percent power." "Twenty percent aye." "One minute to Sol. Lock helm to nav computer." "Helm locked in to nav computer." ''An indicator on the main monitor changed. The navigation computer, with the numerous lines of destination calculations imputed, would guide us to roughly Earth orbit. Of course, there was a less precise, seat-of-the-pants option in case of failure, but that could only land a ship in the right star system reliably. "Twenty seconds. All computer systems normal. Speed reducing to ten percent power. Five, four, three, two, one, exiting warp." As the count reached zero, the warp engines stopped. The view screen switched to show a bow view of the star field, with a small blue-green orb that I could only assume was Earth to one side. The holo table, dormant up till now, came up and began displaying a three dimensional representation of sensor data as it came in. "Engine stop successful, warp systems in cool down mode. Sensor data coming in now, location confirmed, we are in high Earth orbit. Helm control returned to bridge." "Picking up aerospace contacts. Fairly typical Earth traffic, closest contact is a UAC warship, looks like that new Halcyon class." "Engineer Tucker here, warp engine shutdown successful, cooling systems seem to be working right. Impulse drive startup successful, full range of sunlight velocities available." "Contact established with Arcadia Base Command." "Fine work of navigation lieutenant Larson. Radio, get us clearance to dock at Arcadia." "Aye sir. Arcadia this is Andromeda..." As clearances were given, the holo table projected our likely path. I noticed that it was fairly close to that UAC vessel, which was traveling on a steady patrol line. As such, I decided to give my helmsman a bit of fun. "Lieutenant Decker, you take us in on a close pass with that ''Halcyon cruiser. I think we should give them a little show."'' "Yes sir!" Helmsman Decker grinned almost maniacally as he manipulated the controls. The holo table's course plot showed that we would pass very close to the UAC cruiser's forward bridge. "Full impulse power." A new set of vibrations resonated through the deck as the impulse engines came on line, while there was a muffled whine like a jet engine as the engines fired. As ''Andromeda accelerated, the UAC vessel loomed closer in the main monitor. I couldn't help but wonder what the crew of the UAC vessel thought of the AIF vessel bearing down on them.'' "If we had windows I'd wave as we passed, but alas. Firing thrusters." As we approached, the RCS thrusters fired, rolling the ship on her long axis. We passed the UAC ship extremely close, before rocketing away and rocking side to side like an old school fighter giving a wing wave. As we neared Earth, thrust reversal deflectors extended over the impulse engine nozzles, while retro thrusters fired forward to help slow her down. "Engaging anti grav units. Approach vector set, cutting main engines, I'll let momentum carry us in." The helmsman deftly manipulated the controls as he guided the ship in. I had read on his service record that he was once a pilot, and his experience was clear. Soon, we had landed at the Arcadia Aerospace Base, docking bridges extended to our airlocks. The engineering staff was in the process of shutting down our six fusion cores for inspection and servicing, and base maintenance crews and warp engine specialists were already coming aboard to check our engines. After a few minutes checking in with base officials, I took my leave of the bridge. I did not bother gathering any belongs from my quarters, I would be back soon enough for paperwork pertaining to ship maintenance and to check the status of my cruiser wing. As I stepped through the airlock, I walked out upon an open air gangway. It felt good, not breathing recycled air or the slightly different composition of Telos. Of course, there was also the lingering odor of soot and ash, remnants of the Protoss attack. I walked down the gangway, leaving my ship in the hands of the base staff. I was home.